Under A Blanket Of Stars -

Saskatchewan’s First Observatory

“We are blessed to live under a blanket of stars,” a First Nations elder
mused. Looking up, first peoples sought the divine. The North Star Polaris
was known to the Plains Cree as the Standing Still Star. The Milky Way was
called the Summer Birds’ Path. Thirteen moons marked the passing of one
year, with 13 cycles of 28 days each, from one new moon to the next.

Newcomers to Saskatchewan were also drawn by the night sky. Inspired by the
impending return of Halley’s Comet in 1910, a group of Regina amateur
astronomers formed the Saskatchewan Astronomical Society. In 1913, an
observatory, the first of its kind in Western Canada, was built on the roof
of Regina Collegiate, later called Central Collegiate. It was Regina’s first
high school, and operated from 1908 to 1985.

The observatory excluded light from outside sources and provided a wind-free
environment. The domed roof was light, easy to turn and its height
accommodated a long telescope. The building was unheated because air
turbulence affected the image. Red lights were used inside because red light
does not affect the human eye’s adaptation to the dark.

The Society was active for a numbers of years until the First World War when
membership declined. Maintenance of the observatory was neglected, and in
1938 it was removed from the Collegiate’s roof and sold. After the Second
World War, the Society revived again, eventually as the Royal Astronomical
Society of Canada, Regina Centre. The Society regained ownership of the
observatory in 1983 and in 1989 it was moved to the Moose Jaw Western
Development Museum.

Today there are six observatories in Saskatchewan: Davin Observatory at east
of Regina; Kalium Observatory at the Saskatchewan Science Centre in Regina;
Sleaford Observatory east of Saskatoon near Meacham; University of Regina
Observatory in Regina; University of Saskatchewan Observatory in Saskatoon;
Wilkinson Memorial Observatory near Eastend. In 2012, a seventh observatory
is scheduled to open in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park.

Is stargazing for you? On a summer evening, spread out a blanket in the
backyard, lie down and look skyward. On a cold winter’s night, bundle up and
let the darkness embrace you. Search the night sky for planets and
constellations, meteor showers or the moon, northern lights and falling
stars. Search for your connection to the vast universe.

Dark Sky preserves and reserves are places around the world where people can
enjoy the night sky devoid of the effects of light pollution. In Canada,
Dark Sky preserves are often found in national and provincial parks, located
far from urban light pollution. In Saskatchewan, Cypress Hills
Inter-Provincial Park and Grasslands National Park are both Dark Sky
preserves. When it was created in 2009, the Grasslands Preserve became the
largest in the world. You can join stargazers at the Saskatchewan Summer
Star Party held each August in the Cypress Hills Park.

Wrapped in a ribbon of Milky Way stars, the night sky begs to be admired.
Humankind has long searched the night sky for guideposts to navigate
waterways, to survey the landscape, to mark the passage of time, and to
study the physical nature of the celestial bodies they have observed.
Astronomy, the study of the universe, is age-old.